Printing machine



4 Sheets-Sheet l E. G. HARVEY PRINTING MAC-INE lvv M May 2s, 1963 Filed DSO. 23, 1960 May 28, 1963 B. G. HARVEY PRNTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 25, 1960 May 2s, 1963 B. G. HARVEY 3,091,174

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Deo. 23, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 28, 1963 B. G. HARVEY 3,091,174

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 25, 1960 4 sheets-sheet 4 3,091,174 PRINTING MACEME Bertrand G. Harvey, Keene, NH., assigner to Marken! Machine Company, Keene, NH., a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Dec. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 78,122 11 Claims. (Cl. lill-41) This invention relates to printing apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for placing indicia on small articles in a rapid, eiiicient and accurate manner.

In the printing of small articles, such as electrical components (resistors and capacitors, for example) and similar items, it is imperative that the marking placed on the article during the printing operation be sharply delineated so that it properly serves the intended function. These articles are frequently irregular in shape and often have wire leads or similar parts `associated therewith which makes the continuous end-to-end feeding thereof difiicult if not impossible. Additionally, due to the irregular surface of such articles, direct printing from type often results in an incomplete or distorted marking.

Accordingly an object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for placing indicia on irregularly shaped articles such as electrical components.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved printing apparatus capable of accurately printing electrical components such as resistors and capacitors, capsules and similar small articles in a rapid and eicient manner.

In the apparatus of the invention the article to be imprinted is positioned by suitable means beneath a printing lhead element in a stationary location during the printing operation and the printing head carrying ink or other printing medium disposed in the desired form contacts the article to transfer the printing medium to the article surface in the printing operation. It is essential that there be no lateral motion of the printing head relative to the article during the printing operation and, similarly, no lateral motion to the printing head relative to the printing die which carries the indicia and to which the printing medium is being applied so that a sharp impression that is not smeared, blurred or otherwise detiective is transferred to the article.

Accordingly, another object of the invention is to provide a compact, rapid and eiiicient printing apparatus for the placing of indicia on small articles in which the printing head is operated in a manner to avoid possibility o-f lateral motion during printing medium transfer operations.

In accordance with the invention there is provided apparatus including an offset printing head or other suitable transfer element which carries a printing medium from a printing die or other suitable indicia carrying element to the article to be imprinted and places the printing medium on that article in a printing operation. The apparatus is arranged to provide an initial, straightline relative movement between the offset head and printing die; and the offset head, after it is separated from the printing die, is rotated into the proper and stationary position for the printing operation. The printing operation is then performed, again with a substantially straight line movement, so thatthrough the two printing medium transfer operations a sharply defined indicia is placed on the article. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the printing apparatus includes a single drive unit which controls (l) the coordinated operations of transferring ink from a reservoir to a printing die via an inking plate so that a smooth layer of ink of uniform thickness is placed on the die, and (2) the motion of the offset head between the printing die and the article to be imprinted. The apparatus of designed with a common drive element, that is capable the invention is a compact mechanism, simply BQl'Z-l Patented May 28, 1963 of rapidly marking small irregularly shaped articles in a precise and sharply defined manner.

Other objects an advantages of the invention will be seen as the following description 'of a preferred embodiment thereof progresses in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of the printing apparatus according tc a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of fthe printing apparatus of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a Side elevational view of the printing apparatus of FIG. l, similar to FIG. 2, showing certain of the elements in a second position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 showing the inking plate, a portion of the drive mechanism, and certain other elements of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along the line S-S of FIG. 2 showing the main drive linkage of the apparatus of FIG. l;

FIG. 6 is a view of the printer actuating mechanism of the app-aratus, this view being of the opposite side of the machine from that of the views in FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIGS. 7-10 are diagrammatic views of the mechanism associated with the printing apparatus for transferring ink from the type to the offset head.

With reference to FIGS. l and 2 the printing apparatus there shown has a base lll which is adapted to be supported by leveling screws 12, 14, 16 on a suitable surface. Mounted yon the base is a bracket 18 which supports a drive sha-ft 2@ to which is attached an eccentric crank 22. This crank 22 is secured to a pitman arm 24 by means of a bolt 26. The pitman arm 24 is attached tot a cross head 2S which is securely fastened to the square shaft 39. This square shaft is supported for reciprocating movement in guide members 32, 34.

Mounted on the forward end of the square shaft is the type head or printing die 36 which carries the printing type. An inking plate 38 is mounted above the printing die 36. An extension 40 secured to the rear end of the shaft extends laterally and has a link member 4Z, pivotally secured thereto by pin `44, which supports the round shaft 46. This round shaft has at its forward end a coupling y4S which is secured to the inking mechanism actuating link Sil by means of a bolt 52, also shown in FIG. 5. The link '56 is pvotally mounted on the upstanding flange 54 which is secured to the base 'lll and is formed in dog-leg shape. At the knee of the link Sti is a pivot pin 56 t-o which is secured a pair of arms 58 which `supports an inking roll 66. These arms and the roller are biased downwardly by the springs 62. At the outer end of the link 59 is another pivot pin 64 which is adapted to slide :in slot 66 of the ink reservoir ratchet drive member 68. A screw 7i) and nut 72 are provided to adjust the amount of travel of pin 64 in slot 66.

A transfer roll 74 is :supported in a pair of arms 76 which pivotally attach to the upstanding support members 78 by means of the bolt and nut assembly S0. A11 ink reservoir 82 is also mounted on the support members 78 and has a cooperating reservoir roll 84 which is driven by the notched arm 86 and a toothed ratchet member 88 Kfor transfer of ink from the reservoir via roll 84 to the roll 74. A spring 96, connected between a pin 92 on one of the support members 78 and pin 94 on link 68, acts to pull the linkage of arms 76, 63 and S6 yforward as far as possible as limited by the position of link 50 and the pin 64 that it carries relative to the slot 66 and the adjusting ybolt 70 therein. The several rolls, ink reservoir and inking plate are also shown in FIG. 4.

Forwardly of the ink reservoir support members 78 and immediately in front of and below the surface 96 of the ink tran-sfer plate 38 are positioned a pair of quadrant surfaces 98 which act as guides for the support arms '58 of roll 60. Clamping means 100, associated with the printing die, permits easy removal and changing of the type as desired.

Also secured to coupling means 48 at.the forward end of shaft 46 is a friction drive block 102 which has a base portion `104 anda cap portion 106. The cap portion is secured to the base portion by means of screws 108, 110, each of which has a spring 112 positioned between the head of the screw and the cap 106. A rod 114 is adapted to be received between the base 104 and cap,1(}6 and to be driven thereby. (A view of the structure also appears in FIG. 4.) Mountedon the rod are two stop members 116, y118 -adjustably secured thereto by means of set screws 120. This drive rod 114 has its forward end bent outwardly at a right angle and is connected to link 122 which is secured to a shaft 124 on which the offset printing head 126 is mounted. This shaft and offset head assembly are supported by a yoke 128 through which the Yshaft 124 passes and is secured in the yoke by means of a suitable cap 130. A biasing spring 132 is .provided to assist proper positioning of the offset head '126. A lug 148 positioned on the yoke cooperates with stop members 116, 118.

The offset head yoke 128 is'pivotally mounted on the printing unit support members 78 by bolts 134, 136. A yoke arm -138 extends rearwardly of the pivot point and is biased ydownwardly by a spring 140 that is secured between the end of that arm and the base 10, as best seen in FIG. 6. Also positioned adjacent the rear end of the yoke arm. 138 is a roller '142. This roller 142 cooperates with a cam follower in the form of a pivoted finger 144 which is mounted on an arm 146 that is secured to and extends forwardly from the cross head 28. This cam follower finger 144 is normally biased against stop 150 by a spring 152 which is connected between the finger 144 fand the arm 146.

It is 4believed that the functioning of this machine may be .best understood by a step by step description of the operation thereof. In FIG. 2 apparatus is shown with Ythe offset head 126 disposed in horizontal position against the type 1'54 mounted in the printing die 36 (as indicated in FIG. 7). The transfer roll 74 is in contact with the reservoir roll 84 and the inking roll l60 is at the upper end of the .surface 96 of plate 38. As the crank 22 lrotates `in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 2 the pitman arm starts to move rearwardly, drawing the crosshead 28 and shaft 30 with it. This causes the printing die 36 and type 154 to move away vfrom the offset head 126, from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. Sectional views of the connection between a portion of the offset head rotating linkage .including round shaft 46, link 42 and pin 44, illustrating the two positions thereof, are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. As will be seen from those :figures there is an elongated slot I156 in the link member 42 in which the pin 44 slides. This arrangement provides a lost motion connection so that no force is imparted to the offset hea-d rotating mechanism until the type 154 has been withdrawn fromA the resilient printing surface 158 carried by the offset head 126. In this way there is no smearing or blurring of the ink that has been deposited on the surface 158 by the type 154 as those two members move apart. As soon as pin 44 contacts the end of slot 156 the rod 114 is pulled rearwardly by shaft 46 through the friction clamp connection 102. The link 122 rotates the offset head through shaft 126 from the horizontal position (with the stop 1|18 against the lug 148 (FIG. 2)) to the vertical position (Where the stop 116 contacts lug 148 (FIG. 3)). In the latter position the offset head has been rotated 90 to a position exactly above the article j160 to beimprinted. (It will be understood of course that the article may bermoved into proper .position by any suitable means, for example, by a conveyor belt). The rod 114 is prevented from moving further after stop 116 contacts lug 148 but due to the friction connection of 4 the ydrive block 102 it is permitted to slide through that block so that it `does not impede additional desired operation of the printing apparatus.

The apparatus is in the position shown in FIG. 6 at this time with the square bar 30 and the structure mounted thereon being moved rearwardly. A portion of this structure is the cross head 28 and the arm 146 on which is mounted the pivoted cam follower finger 144. This finger is forward of the roller 142 in its foremost posltion and as it moves rearwardly it contacts the roller 142 and as it is fixed in posi-tion against the stop 150 it forces the roller 142 up pivoting the printing yoke about the pivot points 134, 136 and causing the offset head to lower to transfer the ink carried on its face to the article in a printing operation. As soon as the finger 144 passes the roller 142 the spring 140 acts to pivot the yoke upwardly and lifts the offset head in a completion of theprinting operation.. The cam follower is Ypositioned such that the offset head has rotated to its vertical position and becomes stationary before the follower contacts roller 142. In other words, on the com- Vmencement of the rearward movement of the crosshead subsequently, after it had Ibeen properly positioned (asV determined by the location of stop 116), the finger 144 contacts roller 142 to perform the printing operation. In this manner the offset head is not being rotated at that time and a perfect printed impression results.

At the same time the link 50 is being pivoted in a counterclockwise direction by the rotation of the crank 22. This pivoting movement starts the inking roll 60 downwardly across the inking plate as the plate is being brought rearwardly by the main drive rod 30. The roll 60 is maintained in contact with the plate as mentioned above by the biasing springs 6-2. As the link 50 continues to Yrotate in a counterclockwise direction the links 68, 76, 86

move forward under the influence of spring 90 withlinks 76 and 86 pivoting about the fixed point 80. This forces the link 86 forwardly in a cocking operation preparatory to its engagement Ewith the tooth wheel 86 to drive the reservoir roll 84. At the same time the link 76 carrying roll 74 is pivoted downwardly toward the surface of plate 96. As mentioned above during this interval of rotation of crank i22 the plate and type head move to their Irearmost positions. As the plate 38 moves rearwardly it is rotated by contact of its notched disc 162 with the arm 164 that is mounted on the upstanding ange 54. I'he position of these elements after the eccentric 22 has rotated 180 is shown in FIG. I3. It Will be noted that the transfer roll 74 is in contact 'with the forward end of the plate surface 96 and therinking roll 60 has been driven down across the .plate surface 96 and along the quadrant guides 98 across the type face in an operation which transfers ink from the plate surface 96 to the face of the type 154. The advancing lever 86 is in contact with a notch on the reservoir roll 88l preparatory forY As the crank 22 continues to rotate the crosshead 28 Y starts to move forward again and the offset head 126 (after the lost motion delay introduced -by the movement of pin 44 in the -slot 156) is immediately rotated by shaft 114 90 in a counterclockwise direction to a horizontal position preparatory to contact with the printing die 36. At the same time the crosshead 28 and shaft 30 move forward, carrying the printing die 36 and the plate 38.

As the cross head 2S moves forward the follower 14Al (shown in FIG. 6) on the offset head actuating mechanism slides past the roll 142 without moving the offset head yoke as the follower is permitted to pivot by spring 152. The springs 140 and 152 are proportioned so as t0 prevent any downward movement of the yoke 128 at this time.

As this structure is moving forward the link 50 is being pivoted in a clockwise direction to withdraw the inking roll along the quadrant guides 98 and across the plate surface so that it finally is positioned at the upper end of the plate surface 96 in the position shown in FIG. 2. The clockwise rotation of link 50' also moves the pin 64 through the elongated slot 66 but otherwise does not effect the position of link 68 or its attached members 76, 87, due to the forward biasing eect of spring 90, until the end of the slot, as controlled by the position of bolt 70, is reached. When the pin 64 contacts the end of bolt 70, the attached links are moved against the force of spring 90 to pivot the transfer roll 74 upwardly about the pivot point 80 and to pull the latch member 86 rearwardly, advancing the roll 84 to make a desired quantity of ink available from the ink reservoir 82 for transfer via roll 74 to the plate surface in the neXt operation.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a compact and eicient apparatus which includes coordinated means driven by a single mechanical element for transferring a printing medium from a reservoir via an inking plate to a printing die and an offset head mounted for rotation which picks up printing medium from the printing die in sharply delineated form, rotates through 90 and then is actuated to place the printing medium on the articles, irregularly shaped or otherwise, to be imprinted in a printing operation. While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, changes therein will be obvious to those skilled in the art and therefore it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited thereto or to details thereof and departures may be made therefrom within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for printing indicia on small, irregularly shaped articles comprising a printing medium reservoir, a printing die having an indicia configuration, an offset printing head mounted adjacent said printing die, means to transfer printing medium from said reservoir to said printing die in a smooth layer, and drive means including first means to rotate said offset head between a rst position in alignment with said printing die and a second position in alignment with the article to be imprinted, second means operative when said offset head is in said rst position to move said printing die in straight line motion toward said offset head to transfer printing medium from said printing die to said offset head and third means to move said offset head towards the article when said offset head is in said second position for application of the printing medium carried by said offset head to the article to be printed.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first means includes a drive rod having a pair of adjustable stops mounted thereon and a friction block coupling means associated with said drive rod arranged to be reciprocated by said drive means biased so that said drive rod is permitted to slide relative to said friction block coupling means when said stop members inhibit motion of said drive rod.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said drive rod includes a lost motion connection and is arranged so that after said offset head is positioned in alignment with said printing die by said first means, said printing die is moved forward to Contact said offset head in a printing medium transfer operation and then is moved away from said oifset head by said second means prior to actuation of said first means to rotate said offset head to said second position.

Y 4. Theapparatus as claimed in claim l wherein said offset head is supported on a yoke mounted for pivoting movement, and said yoke includes an arm portion carrying a cam surface and said third means includes a cam follower adapted to engage said cam surface for pivoting said yoke to transfer printing medium from said offset head to the article to be printed.

5. Apparatus for printing indicia on small irregularly shaped articles comprising an ink reservoir, a printing die having an indicia conguration thereon, reciprocable drive means to move said printing die during the transfer of ink from said reservoir to said die, an offset head adapted to receive an ink impression from said printing die when said offset head is in a first position, means connected to said reciprocable drive means to rotate said offset head to a second position in alignment with the surface of the article to be imprinted, and means to move said offset head toward the article to transfer an ink configuration to the article in a printing operation, said reciprocable drive means being means arranged to withdraw said printing die from contact with said offset head prior to operation of said offset head rotating means.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 and further including a common mechanical drive source for Idriving said offset head rotating means and said die reciprocating means and wherein said rotating means includes a lost motion connection, comprising a link having an elongated slot therein and a pin driven by said common mechanical drive source disposed in said slot such that rotation of the offset head is delayed until the printing die is out of contact with the offset head.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 and further including a yoke apparatus for pivotally supporting said offset head, a cam surface on said yoke and wherein said common drive means includes a main crosshead and a ca-m follower finger adapted to cooperate with said cam surface for pivoting said yoke to carry said offset head toward said article in a printing operation, said finger being positioned to contact said cam surface and pivot said yoke when said offset head rotating means is stationary with said head in said second position in alignment with the article to be printed immediately preparatory to the printing operation.

8. Apparatus for printing indicia on small articles comprising an ink reservoir, an indicia carrying head, a transfer head, means to transfer ink from said reservoir to said indicia carrying head, and drive means including first means to rotate said transfer head between a first .position adjacent said indicia carrying head and a second position adjacent the article to be printed, second means to move said transfer head and said indicia carrying head relative to one another to transfer a configuration of ink from said indicia carrying head to said transfer head when said transfer head is in said rst position, and third means to move said transfer head to contact the article in a printing action when said transfer head is in said second position, said first, second and third means being mechanically operated by a single drive unit, said first means including an arm on said transfer head, a drive rod connected to said arm, a pair of adjustable stops mounted ou said drive rod to control the movement of said drive rod, and a friction block clamping means associated with said drive rod arranged to be reciprocated by said drive unit, said clamping means being biased so that said drive rod is permitted to slide relative to said friction block when said stop members inhibit motion of said drive rod, so that said second and third means may be operated by said drive means at times when said first means is inoperative.

9. Apparatus for printing indicia on small articles comprising a type head adapted to be reciprocated, a rotatable transfer head pivotally mounted on a yoke, said transfer head having a surface adapted to be positioned to receive an ink impression from said type head in a rst position and to be rotated 90 to a second position Y 7 Y with said surface adjacent the article to =be imprinted, common drive means for reciprocating said type head and rotating. said transfer head, said common drive means including means for .pivoting said yoke in a printing operation when said transfer head is in said second position, means to .render said transfer head rotating means inoperative when said pivoting means is operative, and means to hold said transfer head immobile against rotation as said type head is being reciprocated into and out of immediate contact with said transfer head.

10. Apparatus for printing indicia Von small articles comprising a type head adapted to -be reciprocated, a rotatably mounted transfer head having a surface adapted to -be positioned to receive an ink impression from said type head in a first position and to :be rotated 90 to a second position with said surface adjacent the article to be imprinted, common drive means for reciprocating said type head and rotating said transfer head, said common drive means including an arm connected to said transfer head, an operating rod mechanismconnected to said arm eccentrically of the axis of rotation of said transfer head and means to hold said transfer head immobile against rotation as said type head is being reciprocated into and out of contact with said transfer head including a lost motion link in said operating rod'mechanism, said lost motion link including an elongated slot, a driving member carried in said slot and driven by said Y common -drive means, said rotation immobilizing means being arranged so that the transfer head rotating means is effectively disconnected from the common drive means when said'type head is in a position immediately adjav cent said transfer head.

1-1. Apparatus for printing indicia on small articles comprising an ink reservoir, a type head, a transfer head having a resilient surface adapted to receive a conguration of ink from said type Ihead and transfer that ink configuration to an article ina printing operation, said transfer head being mounted Ion a yoke, means to transfer 8 ink Ifrom said reservoir to said type head, means to rotate said transfer head 90 between a first position in which said resilient surface is in valignment withss'aidtype head and -a second position in which said resilient surface is directly above the article to be printed, Vmeans to reciprocate said type head toward and away from the first position of said transfer head to transfer an ink configuration from said typeA head to the resilient surface of said transfer head when said transfer head is in said first position, means to pivot said yoke to move said transfer head toward an a-rticle to tbe imprinted so that said resilient surface contacts the article when said transfor head is in said second position, common drive means-x for operating said rotating means, said reciprfcating means and said pivoting means, including a .main reciprocating element and friction drive means for operating said transfer head rotating means adapted to enable the mrnobilization of said transfer head When said transfer head is in its first position and when said transfer head is in its second position while not inhibiting continued operation either of said reciprocating means or said pivoting means, said friction drive means including adjustable stop means for controlling the position of said transferhead, and a lostV motion connection operative when said transfer head is in said first position for preventing movement of said transfer head immediately before and after transfer of an ink configuration to said transfer head from said type head.

References Cited in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,639,789 Y Walters Aug. 23, 1927 1,696,280. OHara Dec. 25,v 1928 2,049,257 Gould et al. July 28, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS l 551,429 Germany May 31,' 19-32 

1. APPARATUS FOR PRINTING INDICIA ON SMALL, IRREGULARLY SHAPED ARTICLES COMPRISING A PRINTING MEDIUM RESERVOIR, A PRINTING DIE HAVING AN INDICIA CONFIGURATION, AN OFFSET PRINTING HEAD MOUNTED ADJACENT SAID PRINTING DIE, MEANS TO TRANSFER PRINTING MEDIUM FROM SAID RESERVOIR TO SAID PRINING DIE IN A SMOOTH LAYER, AND DRIVE MEANS INCLUDING FIRST MEANS TO ROTATE SAID OFFSET HEAD BETWEEN A FIRST POSITION IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID PRINTING DIE AND A SECOND POSITION IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE ARTICLE TO BE IMPRINTED, SECOND MEANS OPERATIVE WHEN SAID OFFSET HEAD IS IN SAID FIRST POSITION TO MOVE SAID PRINTING DIE IN STRAIGHT LINE MOTION TOWARD SAID OFFSET HEAD TO TRANSFER PRINTING MEDIUM FROM SAID PRINTING DIE TO SAID OFFSET HEAD AND THIRD MEANS TO MOVE SAID OFFSET HEAD TOWARDS THE ARTICLE WHEN SAID OFFSET HEAD IS IN SAID SECOND POSITION FOR APPLICATION OF THE PRINTING MEDIUM CARRIED BY SAID OFFSET HEAD TO THE ARTICLE TO BE PRINTED. 